


Old enough to know, too young to care

by LieutenantLoot



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Arena, Bad Puns, Bar Night, Drinking, F/M, Hangover, Jealousy, Swearing, Teasing, Tournaments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 20:12:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7906024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LieutenantLoot/pseuds/LieutenantLoot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The smile on her lips gave away her judging eyes - he realized that teasing her had not been the smartest move to be made in the beginning. Playing hard to get now wasn’t her brightest action either.<br/>This was a challenge of his caliber basically screaming his name and he was not planning on loosing it, even for the tension, the chemistry and a muzzle on his temple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old enough to know, too young to care

**Author's Note:**

  * For [allhailthefirehawk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allhailthefirehawk/gifts).



“Guys, you look -”  
The voice was interrupted by rattling noises of gear and heavy boots. A group of six deadly dangerous warriors entered the bar, ready to fight anyone between them and a strong drink.  
“… delicious.”

Moxxi’s purr continued as she swung back behind the counter. Even in the dim, colored light the traces of today’s combat were easy to spot: Clothes were torn, weapons had scratches and burns and you couldn’t tell if it was their own or their enemy’s blood that covered them, clumping together with tracks of dirt. Hopefully it was just dirt.

Salvador pushed his way through his teammates to be the first to place an order. With war still in his eyes and a nice blood red dip-dye in his beard that reminded on a period sex accident, he didn’t even need to order a bottle of whatever would usually make anyone else go blind and deaf at the same time.

It had been a hell of a day for all of them. A key element of the vault hunter’s profession was mass murdering and damn, who knew that that was such an exhausting task. All the shooting and dodging and throwing grenades and shouting… they deserved some rest for now.  
A part of the team was still stuck in the adrenaline’s lowest point in between the actual fight for your life and the cheering of victory afterwards. Between that, the numbness left the limbs and you could actually feel the pain rustling through your body, just with the beat of the pumping bass of the background music.

The exhaustion was easy to spot on Gaige’s shaking hand that clenched around the glass of strangely shimmering liquid and even Zer0 seemed to hover around the slightest bit less elegant as he followed his teammates to one of the booths at Moxxi’s bar. Krieg’s lack of coordination had increased over the day and with a nice dull sound, he knocked his head into one of the dangling lamps over the tables when he tried to squash his massive frame into one of the booths.

“THE BALL OF LIGHT DEEP-FRIES THE CENTER OF HAVOC!” the Psycho screamed out and held his temple, mocked by the gunzerker’s hearty laugh. In his back, Axton let himself fall onto the bench laying there like a wrung out cleaning rag, unable of moving. Gaige didn’t bother the commando being an obstacle by occupying a row for himself and climbed over him to reach the whining psycho.

“You aren’t even bleedin’, girl.” She remarked after inspecting Krieg’s forehead with metal fingers.

“BONES DON’T CRY IN AGONY! DERMIC SAPHIRES WILL SPRAWL!”

“Don’t cry, big boy. Let me see if I have something for you.” The mechromancer chirped and fumbled on her small box dangling on her belt. As she pulled out some printed band-aids, Krieg let his hands fall from his forehead and kept still so the girl was able to apply the plaster to his temple.  
  
“In deadly warfare / the only wounds that leave no scars / were patched up with love.”  
Zero commented with his deep hollow voice. He had stepped next to them and slid into the space across from Krieg and Gaige.

 “Dude, that was deep. Getting’ all the ladies with that, huh?” Axton rumored muffled from his seat half beneath the table. Zero flashed back a winking emoji and sat back rather slickly with a glass of thick liquor in it. Not a single member of his squad knew how he would drink it but they were sure this wasn’t the last glass he would empty unnoticed in this evening.

“Speaking of ladies…” The commando purred merely noticeable in the thick base of background music. In his position, he had a nice view to a pair of swinging hips strolling over to them. The siren held a drink in her hand and kept her other arm slung around her upper body.  
She reached the booth Axton used as a makeshift bed and discovered the slumped soldier just when she was about to claim the empty spot for her own.

“Anything wrong with you, old man?” Maya asked bending slightly over him.

Even though he was not able to see her face in his position covered by the table, he could hear the mocking grin appearing in her face, blue lips curling. She played unharmed and tried to cover the exhaustion but one could see the damage she took in her slower pace following the other hunters up to Sanctuary.

“Nah, I’m fine, I just feel like I had a slowdancin’ course with a wormhole thresher the whole day.” The soldier sighed honestly. Maya’s eyes still lingered on him, grey and bemused. Maybe a tiny bit judging.

“So now you’re molesting animals instead of machines, pervert?” Salvador’s loud voice rolled over from the other booth, followed by snickering laughter. Zer0 cheered his glass to that.

“Ay, at least Deathtrap’s safe then.” Gaige murmured in addition and took a good sip from her bottle. Next to her, Krieg nipped on his glass that looked like it held orange juice instead of alcohol. The other vault hunters have never asked about it but they were fine with him neglecting booze, coffee and drugs, at least when the others were around. Some of them still held the theory he was just high all the time.

“Yeah, that’s why ya’ mom has to lock her door twice now.” Axton bluffed back and gripped after the table and the corner of the seating to pull himself in an upright position so he was finally able to see the others. The soldier wasn’t critically harmed in the last mission but felt terribly sore in his limbs. He basically waited for the bruises to appear on his skin and hoped for a few blue spots on his arms so he could drop some siren puns he had in mind.

Speaking of sirens: Maya in front of his row inspected the now empty seat besides the ex-soldier. The look on her face remained skeptic and hesitating as she placed herself next to Axton.

He felt kind of upset for her discomfort on his side; he knew that he felt, looked and probably smelled like skag poo but that was no reason to keep some safety distance between them. Eying the blank space between their legs, he snarled a plain “What.” for an explanation.

Maya rested her elbows on the table, hand hovering around the glass between them. She turned towards him and gave him a small heart breaking smile. The second it appeared, Axton knew something was wrong. Maya didn’t smile, not for him, not that openly. Especially not sober.

“Taking the burden of moving your lazy ass was the nicest thing you did for me in a long time, Axe.” A fake sweet tone lingered in her voice and the smile fell immediately. Hah, he knew it.

“I told you you were beautiful maybe an hour ago…?” The commando claimed.

“My face was covered in a coat of mushed bandits.” She added nodding and took a sip of her glass. Her gaze wandered over to the booth in front of them where the other vault hunters sat. With a little bit of snuggling maybe all of them would fit into one booth so she wouldn’t sit on a separate bench next to the commando. Zer0’s slender body would fit into the corner, Krieg could fill the space up and there’d still be enough room for her or Gaige. Or half a Sal.

When she looked back to her companion, their eyes locked. Even in the dimmed light and the chilled atmosphere it felt a little intimidating. That was exactly why she wanted to move.  
Besides the bad puns and the attitude that lingered somewhere dangerously between being a frat boy and neck deep in a midlife crisis, he had something on him that made her uncomfortable.  

“You’re planning on leaving me, arent’cha?” He guessed deadly serious, keeping the stare with squinting eyes pointing over to the other bench. The metal on his forehead reflected a stray spotlight and took the artificial dramatic note from his statement he just tried to create.  
For some reason, he could read her more often than she would have liked to admit. In that moment it wasn’t hard to figure out what she was up to, still he wasn’t out for the simple guess what was on her mind but rather finding a way turning the conversation more intimate than the others would.

“Sure, I’m planning on doing that since I have met you.” The siren nodded coldly, aborting her train of thought there.

In the booth opposite of them the mechromancer turned around and shot them both questioning looks. An analyzing moment later her brows rose in curiosity.

“Havin’ a private party there, huh? Are you two guys finally a thing?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Nah, I’m not that desperate.” Maya huffed and turned her head slightly. She tried to shut her mind from the ‘but what if’ scenario, eyes wide in concentration, drifting thoughts and a little bit of shock.

Just a second from that, Axton chuckled.  
“Well then I either have to step my game up or work on your desperation, honey.” His eyes pierced into Maya’s profile. She found fault with the weird lighting in Moxxi’s bar that he looked so damn determined.

“Step up…?” The siren echoed curiously and rose her glass to her lips waiting for him to continue. “Like in?”

“Like in being nice more often to you, you know… stuff like that.” The soldier nodded confidently, brows furrowed and eyes not leaving the siren for a single second. On the contrary, Maya kept starring forward. She felt awkward being eyed like that since he seemed to take the title ‘hunter’ quiet seriously.  
“Oh, and walking around naked more often, that should spice it up.” He added carelessly with a shrug.

With a heavy thump Maya smacked the glass back on the table and pressed herself up from the bench.  
“I need another drink.” She murmured abruptly and made her way to the bar.  
The soldier’s eyes followed the slender frame limping to the front of the club all slowly but steady. For a second he wondered if he was too perky for her liking – in that case she needed a lesson of what perky actually was too him. 

“The girl is clever indeed / liquor is essence of life/ I will get one, too.” With slender flowing movements, the assassin rose from the booth and followed her to Moxxi in the front of the bar.

Axton’s eyes shadowed Maya. While Gaige rambled about a glorious combokill they achieved in today’s mission, the soldier’s thoughts were stuck with Maya at the other end of the bar. It wasn’t the first time he felt unsure about her.  
Right from the beginning when they had met in the train, she was a challenge: a cold, fierce goddess, almost begging to being brought down from her throne to her knees and the ground – rather metaphorically than literally. Her emotional barrier and control mechanisms were extremely defensive, so the first time she had actually opened to the other vault hunters and laughed freely had caught him off-guard back then.

Maybe it was an old habit from his military days but he liked his teammates close. Closer than their buttocks clenched when Sal had cooked chili the day before. And so far, he shared a something with every hunter; with Zer0 he shared the plain humor, Sal and him loved rambling about stories from wild fights back in their younger days, Gaige obviously got his thing for mechanics and even Krieg was the one he talked to when he needed a cheer up.  
The only one left was Maya.  
They had nothing but good match on the battlefield. They made a great team when it came to killing people and burning houses down and even Maya couldn’t deny a sort of chemistry between them in warfare. Too bad it didn’t transfer.

“Oi, Axton!” The soldier was ripped out of his thoughts by Salvador’s shout. “That rocket launcher you found there, what was it? Torgue? Tediore?” The gunzerker guessed for the launcher he found earlier today in a pile of marauders and nomads. Beautiful thing he had do defend towards Salvador’s and Gaiges greedy hands.

“Tediore. Nice thing but hella explosive. Rips your ear off if you can’t throw it fast enough.” Axton answered shortly and kept in listening to Salvador’s loud voice spouting about the bandit camp they had demolished earlier that day.

A shadow casting over him and the clinging sound of two glasses smacked on the table later, the siren was back at his side.  
“Where did we stop…?” She murmured lowly. Axton shifted further into the corner, still rather lying in the booth than sitting, so Maya was free to sit properly on the bench without any scissoring action. Still he noticed that she didn’t take the free spot besides Salvador but chose the booth he laid in. Interesting.

“With me joining the nudist’s community.” The soldier stated honestly and waited for her to either stand up and look for a different place to sit or scolding him. Instead, she leaned in a little closer and adjusted her legs beneath her.  
In front of them, the conversation grew louder and louder as Krieg exclaimed that the “RED TEA OF HAPPINESS SPRAWLS FROM GARDEN OF SORROW” whenever he uses his axe and Gaige started a rant about melee attacks. Maya shot them a sceptic look and turned back to Axton on her side.

“Ah, sure...” Nonchalantly she pushed one glass towards him.  
Mouthing a ‘thank you’ he wrapped his fingers around the first drink of this evening. When the others had ordered some drinks before he was simply too sore to keep himself on his feet so he preferred impersonating a pancake on a bench.  
“But what if that’s not impressing me either?” Maya asked with lips curled into a curious smile.

In an almost smooth shift Axton supported himself on the table and took a nip of the drink for a slight dramatic pause. His mind rattled through some clever and maybe kinky suggestions.  
Soon any clear thought was drowned in alcohol burning down into his stomach. Definitely not in the good way.  
The slickness fell from his movements when he placed the glass back on the table, suppressing the cough crawling up his throat. Thankfully, the dimmed and colored light hid the fact that his face was turning red.  
Maya waited for him to respond anything but small hemming. Her brows rose skeptically as a few seconds flew by and Axton couldn’t help but grin sheepishly.

“…I hate whiskey.” He slowly admitted in a raspy tone, more growling than actually speaking.

“So that’s not very impressive either.” Maya noted slowly.  
The smile on her lips gave away her judging eyes - he realized that teasing her had not been the smartest move to be made in the beginning. Playing hard to get now wasn’t her brightest action either. Surprisingly neither of them seemed to mind it.  
So far he even enjoyed the way this conversation was flowing. And he wasn’t about to stop at this point.

“Well then, back to plan B: Your very desperate situation.” He placed the glass back on the table and hoped that his fingers twirling around it and a charming smile in his face would cover up the fact that he wasn’t taking another sip so far.  
“Even for Pandorian standards you options aren’t that delightful, aren’t they? I mean show me one single guy that you trust and feel safe with within a distance of five miles and I’m sure he’s either gay, taken or a batshit crazy asshole.”

“I don’t really need someone to protect me. I’m not a damsel in distress.” Maya snarled but wasn’t able to wipe the confidence out of the soldier’s face.

“Ya rather breathe fire, huh?” He hummed in agreement and let his eyes wander around the club for a second. The mixture of dimmed and flashing lights and the dunning music made him feel drunk already even though he was on his first drink.  
As he heard an indignant huff his attention was back on the siren next to him. A gulp of whiskey flushed away the thought that the smile on her lips would be really cute if it wasn’t that sarcastic.

“Literally, dork.” If it wasn’t for the casual atmosphere around the bar, this definitely would have counted as a warning. He’d been on fire and also phasedlocked before and it was no fun. The first few seconds were kind of entertaining but then… nah.  
The smile on her lips turned into a confident grin when he chuckled admitting.  
“- And don’t you fail your own test?”

“Wha?” The soldier grunted pretty intelligently.

Maya leaned forward and rested one elbow on the table. She had moved a little closer so she didn’t have to scream over the background music – not like he minded that at all. He was just thankful for being sober enough that he was still able to keep his eyes from the now rather prominent cleavage.  
Meanwhile, conversation on the opposite table had grown louder as the other vault hunters discussed about the effect of melee weapons on bullymong shit clumps.

“So at least you’re partially gay.” The siren stated. “And officially you _are_ taken.” Slender fingers pointed to the chain around his neck holding the way to opulent wedding ring.

“Phht, officially my arse. I don’t need a divorce to get that I’m single if my wife - well _ex_ -wife - throws her ring back at my head.” The soldier grunted and shifted further into the corner in his back. “If I knew that that would happen, I would not have chosen such a heavy one.” His hand was already halfway up to fumble on the ring but instead he grasped after the glass on the table. The decision between pitying memories and more alcohol was an easy one.

“Is that’s why you have metal on your forehead?” Maya chirped. Mockingly she held a finger above her right eyebrow and wiggled them up and down.

Axton tried to shoot her a dismissive look but couldn’t fight the smile crawling up his face. He had never witnessed a playful moment like that with her and he wasn’t about to waste it.  
“Nah, that’s just what happens if you chose the wrong piercer.” Grinning he tipped a fingernail on the metal element, feeling the soft ‘cling’ sound humming on his skin.

“Really?” She blurted. The disgust in her face was priceless. A small twitch hinted on her almost reaching out for him but was stopped immediately.

“No. That’s for being a sergeant.” The soldier explained shortly and dropped his now empty glass on the table. He thought about getting another drink but he wasn’t sure if his legs would be okay with that; also more importantly, he didn’t want to interrupt the moment with the siren.  
Maya followed his gaze and already placed a second hand on the table to push herself up on her feet when Axton reached out into the air and held up two fingers. A small wave towards Moxxi later, the owner of the nightclub strutted to their table with two clunky but generously filled glasses.  
The hunters mothed a thank you and as fast as she had appeared, she was gone.

“Back to business, darlin’. I’m single, straight and not crazy.” Axton leaned back and laid one arm on the back of the bench they shared.  
The siren’s brows rose in skepticism.  
“Aw come on, compared to most of these fuckers I’m a fuckin’ sane option!” He gestured towards the rest of the bar and then referred to himself.

“I’ll remind you on that next time you’re bathing in blood and scream for more.”

“Usually it’s not me who –“  
The innuendo was already on his lips when he interrupted himself hissing in pain.  
For sitting rather close by now she kneed him in the thigh as she pulled her legs back on the bench.

“I’m sorry!” Maya yelped and intuitively reached out for him. Her fingertips hit his thigh soothingly for a second but she jerked back and grabbed for her glass instead, judging eyes following her.

“Stop lying. –And I never knew you were the touchy type…?” Axton hummed and wondered if it was for the lighting or the booze that she blushed. He found it to be a cute contrast against the blue hair and markings on her skin.

She hesitated commenting on that and kept starring into her glass until the heat vanished from her face as well as the buzzing feeling in her fingertips. She was on her second drink and this evening was already turning out awkward, that must have been a new record. Sighing she found fault with the soldier at her side for that.  
“I am though; all in for that fist-to-face contact.” She snarled without looking up because she knew that nothing but a wolfish grin awaited her. Sloppily she flexed the knuckles of her left hand, markings glowing dimly in the reddish toned light.

When she dared to shoot him a look, he did not wore the expected bandit-rough grin but looked rather amused and chilled, lying in the booth as if he owned it.  
Her gaze followed his legs so close to hers. Surprisingly she didn’t felt out of place so close to the soldier even though she had preferred sitting with the rest of the team before. Still she waited for the escape reflex to return, this evening wasn’t over yet.

 “I like mah’ ladies dominant…” A guttural voice ending in a soft chuckle hit her ears. She wasn’t sure if the missing inappropriate wink would have made his comment more or less serious. And which option she felt better with.

Maya thought about a somewhat ‘safe’ answer or a topic she could change to but before an actual thought hit her head, she was interrupted by a sudden rise of volume at the table opposite to them.  
“- But they are _so_ cozy!” Gaige exclaimed next to the team’s psycho who wiggled from side to side while watching the argument between the girl and Salvador. Zer0 sat next to the gunzerker and nodded understanding like she had a point there.  
“But they smell like poop. Not the good poo, no, the bad poo!” Sal countered and Zer0 pointed towards him agreeing.  
“POOP TRAIN!” On a sudden, Krieg yanked up his massive arms and wavered around yodeling. Finally, this exclamation fit somehow into a conversation.  
“See, he agrees!”  Sal nodded and crossed his arms in confidence.  
“Friendship does know bounds / If you smell like excrements/ You will end alone.” Zer0 added.  
The mechromancer grunted in annoyance for being outnumbered.  
“Well then, let’s ask the specialist around here!” Frustrated she pointed towards Hammerlock nearby the bar.

“Do you get what they’re talkin’ ‘bout?” Axton lowly asked next to her. She shook her head and felt as confused as the commando looked next to her. Brows furrowed they both watched the rest of the squad waving for the Englishman’s attention and shared a sceptic look. Maybe a split of a second too long. And maybe not that sceptic.

“Oi, Hammerlock! We have a question about bullymongs!” Salvador’s loud voice broke their eye contact. Maya looked over to the Englishman who strolled over to his friends, tipping his hat. Axton raised one eyebrow and continued the skeptical face for having one eyebrow practically paralyzed from the metal above it.

“Hey, what about Hammerlock?” Maya broke the short silence between them returning to the discussion they had before. She leaned back on the table, closing the distance between her and Axton so she could speak a little quieter and the others wouldn’t notice that they were talking about them.  
The doubtful look remained on the commando’s face when he realized what she was talking about and slowly shook his head.

“Nah, he’s gay.” Axton blunted. His eyes wavered to the Englishman shortly and then back to his glass. For that, Maya glanced over to her drink - she was ahead of him but he was almost always the first to be tipsy in their team. Therefore she wasn’t afraid of an unfair one-sided drunken conversation. Yet.

“What?” Maya hissed shocked but instead of giving her an explanation, he simply shrugged it off.

“No big deal, huh. And even if he was into ladies, he’d be Gaige’s boo, I’m sure.” The small grin behind the rim of the glass practically yelled that he knew more about that but he did not continue. He got her interest and he knew that curiosity would kill the siren. Or at least keep her at his side for a few more minutes.  
Usually Pandora’s gossip wasn’t really that interesting. It was rather weird to be honest. The hunters rarely talked about their love interests and when they did, they were joking and at least one hunter’s mom was involved. Since no one dropped a mom-joke so far, he wondered how serious she’d take him.  
“Seems like he isn’t an option either, eh?” The soldier crooned and shot her an unambiguous look, just to test the waters. He held the eye-contact a second too long and watched her basically emptying her glass in one go.

The glass in her hand, Maya nodded slowly and twitched like she shrugged an odd thought off.  
“I guess so…” She mumbled agreeing and squinted her eyes. With that interruption before and that dubious smile in front of her, she had lost track of what this whole thing was about. “Uhm, why are we desperately searchin’ for a guy for me again?” 

The commando leaned in closer and waited for her Echo-interface warning her for violation of her personal space. Or her face glowing red instead for the interface.  
“We weren’t looking for alternatives; I asked you why not me. And you were out of reasons.”  
Remember the missing inappropriate wink from before? There it was. And it was even nastier for having him so terribly close, purring lowly: She felt the human warmth on her thigh, on her side and even ghosting along her shoulder. Until now she wasn’t aware of the contact and wasn’t even minding it yet.

She was about to answer him, brows slightly furrowed but a smile on her lips that promised an answer he definitely would have enjoyed. Either flirty or scolding, he was curious for her comeback.

But another rough shout interrupted their chat.  
“Yo, Axton! Compadre!”  
The commando kept his eyes locked with Maya’s and growled deeply. Creative minds probably got a ‘what’ in that but one could not be sure.  
“About that rocket launcher again -” Salvador’s rolling accent broke the duo’s moment and Axton was a little too annoyed to notice the amused grin on Maya’s lips when he turned back to his other teammates.  
“Would’cha sell it?” The gunzerker wavered around with a few bucks like he held maracas. At least he kept up with the dull beat of the background music.  
The soldier hesitated for a split-second only.  
“… nah.” He blunted.  
His eyes already wandered back to Maya and he sloppily pushed his hair back to find back into the flirting position he held before. Meanwhile, the siren had reached out for their two empty glasses and got her legs free of his so she could stand up properly.  
“Twenty thousand?” Sal offered, still wavering around with a bunch of dollar notes from the opposite booth. Krieg joined in the wavering but to the hunter’s surprise, he kept silent.  
“Another drink?” To his side, Maya got on her feet and pointed to the empty glasses.  
Axton nodded thankfully and smiled a “Sure!” towards the siren and a “Fuck no?!” to the gunzerker across the booth. A soft chuckle to his side drowned in the pumping bass of the music played as she went on to the bar across the club.

“Thirty?”  
“Shit, no, Sal!”  
He sat up and rested his elbows on the table. A slight pout in frustration crawled on his face.  
“Fifty?”  
 Axton’s brows rose in interest. Profit was a really good measure against frustration.  
“Sixty and we’ll talk.” The commando grunted.  
“Mierda, soldado, you’re one greedy bastard!” Salvador yelled however he digged in his pockets to grab some money.  
“Deal.” The soldier stretched his legs and shifted towards the end of the booth to get on his sore feet. “I’ll just get it.”  
Before they had moved to the nightclub, the team had dropped the new loot and some too heavy weapons at the Crimson Raider’s headquarters. It wasn’t like Handsome Jack-off himself would stumble into Moxxi’s bar for a knock-off beer this night so they didn’t need heavy armory. So far, Clap-Trap’s place and the HQ’s were safe spots and the only thing you had to be aware of was Tannis fumbling on your gear.

Before he moved towards the exit of the club he walked up to Maya who held two clunky glasses in her hands, cautious of spilling the generous amount of alcohol in them. She stopped on her way back to their booth and shot him a confused look because he was obviously about to leave.  
“I’ll just dash over to the HQ’s for that damn launcher. Ya joining me?” He asked pointing in his back towards Salvador. Maya’s eyes flickered between Axton and the booth in his back to finally wander down onto the glasses in her hands.

“Why should I?” She wondered.

This wasn’t exactly a ‘no’. The commando tried to keep the grin from his face but failed slightly.  
“I’ll even tell ya about Gaige’s little crush.” He whispered begging.

“And what about these?” She held up the drinks in her hands.

He examined the scratched glasses for a moment and then stepped closer to take one of the glasses out of her hands.  
“I will hate myself for that later on.” He announced with a half-assed grin and carried the glass to his lips to chug the hell out of it.  
Squinching eyes? Yes.  
Full-body shivering? For sure.  
Vomiting all over the floor? Not yet.  
That was all he needed to smack the glass confidently back on the countertop, ready to go. Maybe a little more ‘able to stand’ than ‘ready to go’ but still, he was on his feet.

“Well, _now_ you’re impressing.” Maya smirked and nodded appreciating.  
Axton wasn’t sure if the was being sarcastic but for that look she shot him, he would order the next whiskey in no time. Before he could make any stupid promises, Maya followed his enthusiastic choice to chug the liquor and placed her glass right next to Axton’s.  
“Ready when you are.”  
The siren pointed to the door with her chin and Axton thought that he might just had a stroke there or that the light diffused weirdly from the metal on his forehead and made her squint but he thought he saw a small wink from her with that.

 

On wobbly legs they made their way outside the bar. The fresh air and drop of temperature hit them straight in face and Axton hoped that this would help him staying sober. Chugging and sudden movements made a nasty duo, even nastier than the two vault hunter that took slow steps to the HQ’s. He never thought that he’d be fond of the dusty air of Pandora but a little oxygen and whatever it was that held the rusty smell in the air were miraculous.

He inhaled deeply and continued in a sigh, stretching his arms over his head.  
“I honestly did not think that I could lure ya with chitchat.” Axton muttered. He felt his vision turning dizzy on the edges on the far edges. The next twenty minutes he’d either be buzzed or had gained a liver over the time he’d been haunting for vaults and booties.

“I’m not into gossip!” Maya pouted indignantly and held at his side. The tiniest blush hinted for her going hammered but she walked as straight as a person with several brutal injuries could.  
 “… but tell me everything.” She hustled and pulled at his sleeve to make him step further.  
They walked down the passage with Earl’s dubious hostel that never had guests. The hunter’s squad had discussed what the real purpose of that hotel was but they were too afraid of the owner to actual ask.

As they turned right and ran up to Sanctuary’s center, the soldier yawned lowly. At his side, Maya raised her brows in interest and waited for him to start with some details that he wasn’t too sure if the mechromancer wanted them to be spoken again. On the other hand she had not mentioned that this was a secret. Axton shrugged mentally and decided to feel safe and guiltless. There was no one else to do it for him anyway.  
“She was kinda wasted back then, so don’t take this for granted, but we were talking about Scarlet being somesorta ratchet and then someone mentioned Hammerlock being the only honest person on this planet.”  
They walked past the fountains in the middle of the city and crossed the traveling station. The radio nearby blared trashy music but except for that, Sanctuary laid quiet around them.  
Maya looked like she was about to interrupt and disagree him but she kept quiet and nodded so he would go on. She would have mentioned that not even the Englishman was a reliable person here but that topic needed either sobering up or drastic amounts of additional alcohol.  
“Then she started to ramble about ‘bronzy skin’ and ‘elegant sick moves’ and don’t get me started on that mustache, I can’t remember what she said exactly but I felt sick that time, I tell ya. And the clothing. Did I mention the mustache? – Oh and don’t miss on the greatest part of her argumentation, no, remember that son of Crawmerax thing there? She got something goin’ in that bondage moment there.”  
He wavered around while imitating Gaige’s squealing personality (and voice) and almost stumbled into the corner of a house but the siren grabbed his shoulder quickly and pulled him away from the dangerous brick wall. For the time that had passed it was rather clumsiness than the alcohol. Maybe he could find fault with a good mixture of booze and the siren on his side.

“So she fangirled like he was all five members of a boyband at the same time?” Maya outlined her impression briefly.  
The Crimson Raider’s base laid in front of them, door open as it usually was. A city of bandits and hunters did not fear any robbery and welcomed guests with a pointed gun anyway.

“Yeah, just like that.” The commando nodded and entered the base. He looked out for Tannis but she wasn’t to be seen or to be heard so he guessed she had a night out. Whatever that meant for Tannis.  
“When I told her that he was into guys she accused me of lying so we talked a little about having a gaydar and shit like that. Somehow she ended up crying in Krieg’s arms.”

Brows rose, Maya eyed the soldier in front of her as if she tried to tell if he was telling the truth.  
“Wow… wouldn’t have thought that.” She gulped and grabbed the handle of the staircase. Her legs were bruised badly and she rather stalked up than walked so she didn’t need to fall also. She made a few slow steps until she hesitated.  
“Guess compared to that, my desperation isn’t that bad at all, huh? That cancels your Plan B.” She looked back over her shoulder and shot him a playful grin before she continued crawling up the stairs.

Still at the base of the staircase, Axton’s eyes followed her swaying hips vanishing on the second floor. He remained there for a split-second, stunned from that flirty side of hers. She was a challenge, indeed, but the weird mix of hunter and bandit in him loved challenges. And testing borders, he found out as rough fingers found metal.

“Axe, did I just hear a zipper?” Maya snarled from upstairs.

“Yup, back to Plan A!” Axton hummed confidently. The jacked laded heavily on the floor causing a clunky noise from the metal pieces hitting the floor.

“If I find you without pants on, I swear I’ll punch you in the face.”  
The alcohol was definitely buzzing through his ears since he thought he heard amusement in her voice.

“I thought you enjoyed that?”

“Sure, but I’ll make sure you won’t.”

Left on the first floor, Axton grinned silently.  
Playing hard to get really wasn’t the smartest move.  
But keeping on flirting with him probably was the worse.


End file.
